There Are No Accidents in Life

Tony saved a life yesterday.

Through a series of seemingly random events, we ended up at Cracker Barrel in Sturbridge, MA and while waiting for our late lunch, Tony saved a life.

I was sipping my iced tea and daydreaming when I heard a commotion several feet behind me. Before I could even register what was happening, Tony was standing beside a table and pulling a man to his feet. My husband spun the man around, wrapped his arms around him and began performing the Heimlich Maneuver. After three quick thrusts, the man was breathing again. Tony returned to his seat. I started crying. Tony’s hands started shaking as the adrenaline wore off.

A few minutes later, the man’s wife came to our table to thank Tony. “I am so grateful you were here today,” she said. “In all the years we have been married, my husband has never choked. Our children were scared. I was scared.” She said her husband would come by to express his gratitude, “after he calms down.”

After he finished his lunch, the man did stop by our table to thank Tony and shake his hand. He still looked stunned and a little embarrassed. He explained that he took one bite of his hamburger and realized he couldn’t breathe. Tony brushed off the praise and we both wished him and his family well, expressing gratitude for his health.

And then our food arrived, and we ate lunch. It was as if nothing monumental had just occurred, even though a man could have died.

While the drama was unfolding, many of our fellow diners did not even look up from their meals or cellphones to see what the commotion was about. I realized after the event, tha
t what I heard was the wife and two young children wailing and yelling “he is choking.” Because my back was to the room, and before their pleas sunk in, I worried briefly that I should duck and take cover. What does that say about us as a society?

I believe there are no accidents in life. Here are a series of what seemed to be random events:

1.      We headed out to what sounded like a fun restaurant for lunch: Not Ya Mama’s Vegan Café in Worcester, MA—about 45 minutes from our campground. Unfortunately, we greatly underestimated the size of Worcester—it’s the second largest city in Massachusetts, with a population nearing one million. That meant that parking was an issue and the spaces where we could fit our “BAT—Big Ass Truck” were $25. Uh, no!

2.      So, we headed back to the RV Park. On the way back to our Airstream, we remembered a Cracker Barrel less than 10 minutes from the RV Park.

3.      Tony always insists on sitting so that he can face a room (and any doors).

Those three seemingly random facts made it, so we were at exactly the right place at the right time for that father.  

I am grateful that we decided against a $25 parking spot. It seems Tony saved more than money yesterday.

But Wait, There's More...

More than 10 months ago, we sold our house and 98% of our belongings to travel the United States pulling our Airstream. We have visited more than 20 states and have only just scratched the surface. We can't wait to see where the road takes us.